2018 Coaches

Brian Taranto

Brian Taranto has been hanging around the music industry for over 30 years now. Co-owner and Managing Director of Australia’s biggest merch company, Love Police ATM and also passionate owner of concert promoting/agency/dream maker for Australia and New Zealand with Love Police Touring. “BT” as he is known by most in his homeland, started slinging cotton in 1985 fresh out of high school. From behind the merch table to the office to the stars, his merch company now represents Bravado, Warner Music, Firebrand, Tannis Root, Cardboard Box Project, Red Star, Dreamer Media and many direct deals with international Artists as diverse as Taylor Swift and Monster Trucks! He also represents the touring and online merch rights for a load of local big, small, new and heritage bands and the majority of Australia’s festivals including Splendour in the Grass, Groovin' The Moo, The Falls and more. A concert promoter since 1997, he has worked the careers of the Black Keys, Wilco, Gillian Welch, Justin Townes Earle, Sun Kil Moon, Gomez, My Morning Jacket, Jason Isbell, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats and many more, as well as being the agent for his territory for the Black Keys and Warpaint. He also books and runs Boogie, New Years Evie and Out On The Weekend festivals.

Ashlea O'Loughlin

Ashlea is a passionate music lover with over 10 years’ experience in the industry. She started out at Way Over There, booking some of Melbourne, and Australia’s, premier live music venues and festivals and was then part of The Venue Collective where she worked on band bookings and publicity across nine venues nationally, including the Corner Hotel, Northcote Social Club, 170 Russell and Newtown Social Club. She was an Event Manager for Melbourne and Olympic Parks, managing large scale events at Rod Laver Arena, Margaret Court Arena and Hisense Arena, and is now the co-founder of Social Season, a Melbourne-based digital and social media marketing entity that specialises in publicity and advertising for touring and events.

Ben Thompson

Ben Thompson is a passionate live music lover with more than 18 years’ experience in the Australian music Industry. He started out volunteering at Triple R in Melbourne whilst undertaking a diploma of music business management before moving to the Corner Hotel as ticketing manager. Over his 12 years with the Corner Group, Ben went on to become venue publicist and then music manager and was involved in the launching of the Northcote Social Club and Newtown Social Club. In 2013 he co-founded, and was managing director of the Venue Collective – an independent venue booking and publicity business representing nine venues nationally, including the Corner Hotel, 170 Russell, Shebeen, Northcote/Newtown Social Clubs and Max Watts venues. Ben is currently Venue Booker at 170 Russell in Melbourne and works as an independent consultant specialising in live music venues.

Emily Kelly

Emily has worked in music for over 15 years, initially as a punk rock street press columnist and eventually as co-owner and Director of PR and Creative at Deathproof. The Brunswick-based agency works on PR, social media, event and project management for a range of music, comedy and arts clients currently including Parkway Drive, West Thebarton, Cosmic Psychos, Leaps and Bounds Festival, Victoria Bitter, Boogie Festival, Brunswick Music Festival, Doug Stanhope, RECLINK Community Cup, Reverence Hotel and Melbourne Bitter.

Moira Mckenzie

Moira is a Senior Associate at Sanicki Lawyers and practices in entertainment and intellectual property law. She represents artists, artist managers, indie record labels, publishers, producers, music festivals and other music professionals. Moira has served on the Board of Music Victoria and regularly volunteers her time as a pro-bono lawyer for Arts Law Centre of Australia, The Push, BIGSOUND and Face the Music. She also plays in a band with her friends just for fun.

Nigel Melder

Nigel has over 10 years’ experience in promoting international and domestic touring artists, from The Pogues and Public Image Limited to Architects and The Amity Affliction. He is currently a Tour Promoter at Live Nation, having previously promoted for Destroy All Lines, which included a partnership with Chugg Entertainment. Nigel has recently expanded into festival booking with the successful Australian launch of Download Festival in March 2018. Previous to promoting, he owned and operated record label Trial and Error and worked as a Tour Manager, among other roles, for 15 years in both Australia and overseas.

Sally Mather

Sally has worked in music venues in QLD and VIC for over 10 years and has made herself very much at home at The Corner Group since 2010. Formally the General Manager of Ticketscout (a boutique ticketing agency that looked after 12 venues nationally) she is now Music & Marketing Manager for Melbourne music icons Corner Hotel and Northcote Social Club and oversees the booking, marketing, logistics and events for the group’s venues. When she is not whipping up kickass marketing plans, you can generally find her somewhere warm with the music turned up and a wine in hand.

Tom Harris

Tom Harris started out in the music biz in 2003 as the bookkeeper at Rubber Records. From there he started helping out a few bands on the side, all the while promoting himself under the name White Sky. White Sky is now the largest music accounting services business in Australia; handling the finances for over 500 bands, record labels, festivals and various music businesses. From 2006-2011 Tom co-managed The Temper Trap, taking the band from small Melbourne venues to world-wide success. In 2010 Tom was asked to join the Board of the Association of Artist Managers (AAM) and in 2012 took on the role of Treasurer. Tom now manages The Little Stevies and Teeny Tiny Stevies while continuing to run White Sky and assist artists and managers in navigating the business side of the music industry.

Sharlene Harris

Sharlene commenced work at the Seaview Ballroom in the early 80s whilst at uni, caught the bug for hotels and live music and bought her first hotel before finishing her degree. Having managed more than 20 venues over the last 30 plus years, before taking on the Victorian Entertainment role for ALH Group 6 years ago, Sharlene now heads up passionate team managing entertainment in all its forms across more than 330 Venues nationally. Procuring a variety of acts covering most genres in venues from Cairns to Dunsborough gives Sharlene a unique insight into audiences around the country. On top of this, ALH Group has also built some successful outdoor events with their Hotter than Hell, Sea N Sound and Shakafest.

Shaun Adams

Although best known as the booker for Karova Lounge in Ballarat, Shaun has programed several venues across Victoria and promoted his own shows and events across regional Victoria. Having worked with artists such as Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Powderfinger, Silverchair and Peking Duk, Shaun has also worked for festivals such as Meredith Music Festival and Falls Festival and recently programed Music Victoria’s Regional showcase as part of the Changes Festival.

Live Music Professionals is brought to you by Music Under Wings, a Victorian Government initiative.